FIGS. 10, 11A, and 11B (Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. H9-161875) show a first conventional electrical connector 101. The electrical connector 101 includes an insulating housing 110. The housing 110 includes a contact accommodating member 111 having a plurality of contact accommodating cavities (not shown) for receiving contacts (not shown). A hood 112 extends forward from the contact accommodating member 111. Each of the contact accommodating cavities (not shown) has a first locking arm (not shown) for initially locking the contacts in the housing 110. A flexible second locking arm 113 extends forward from the contact accommodating member 111 and is disposed inside the hood 112 of the housing 110. The second locking arm 113 has a locking member 114.
A retainer 120 that secures the contacts (not shown) in the housing 110 is inserted from a front surface (left side in FIG. 10) of the housing 110 into the hood 112. The retainer 120 can be locked to the housing 110 in a temporary locking position shown in FIG. 11A that allows insertion of the contacts (not shown) into the contact accommodating cavities (not shown) and in a main locking position shown in FIG. 11B that secures the contacts (not shown) in the housing 110. The retainer 120 has a first locking projection 121 and a second locking projection 122. The first locking projection 121 prevents the retainer 120 from being pulled in a forward direction toward the front surface of the housing 110 when the retainer 120 is in the temporary locking position. The second locking projection 122 contacts a front surface of the locking member 114 when the retainer 120 is in the temporary locking position, as shown in FIG. 11A, so that the retainer 120 is prevented from being pushed in toward a rear of the housing 110 when the retainer 120 is in the temporary locking position. The second locking projection 122 is positioned to a rear of the locking member 114 when the retainer 120 is in the main locking position, as shown in FIG. 11B, so that the retainer 120 is prevented from being pulled in the forward direction toward the front surface of the housing 110.
FIGS. 12A to 12F (Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 2001-332335) show a second conventional electrical connector 201. The electrical connector 201 includes an insulating housing 210. A plurality of contact accommodating cavities (not shown) for receiving contacts (not shown) is formed in the housing 210. A locking arm (not shown) for initially locking the contacts (not shown) in the housing 210 is disposed inside each of the contact accommodating cavities (not shown). A retainer insertion opening 216 for inserting a retainer 220 is formed in the housing 210. First locking members 213 are formed on rear portions (left portion in FIG. 12A) of the retainer insertion openings 216. Second locking members 214 are formed on front portions of the retainer insertion openings 216 in positions lower than the first locking members 213. As shown in FIG. 12B, first locking openings 211 and second locking openings 212 are formed in both side walls of the housing 210.
The retainer 220 is constructed so that it is inserted into the retainer insertion opening 216 from a top surface (upper side in FIG. 12A) of the housing 210 to double-lock the contacts (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2A, first retainer arms 222 that protrude downward are formed on lower rear portions of two side walls of the retainer 220. First locking projections 223 are formed at tip ends of the first retainer arms 222. Second locking arms 224 that protrude downward are formed on lower front portions of the two side walls of the retainer 220. Second locking projections 225 are formed at tip ends of the second locking arms 224.
The retainer 220 can be locked to the housing 210 in a temporary locking position shown in FIGS. 12A to 12D that allows insertion of the contacts (not shown) into the contact accommodating cavities (not shown) and in a main locking position shown in FIGS. 12E and 12F that secures the contacts (not shown) in the housing 210. The temporary locking position consists of a first temporary locking position P1 shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B and a second temporary locking position P2 shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D that are successively different in a direction of insertion depth.
As shown in FIG. 12B, when the retainer 220 is in the first temporary locking position P1, temporary locking projections 221 that protrude to an outside from both side walls of the retainer 220 enter into the first locking openings 211 in the housing 210 and restrict vertical movement of the retainer 220. As shown in FIG. 12A, when the retainer 220 is in the first temporary locking position P1, the first locking projections 223 of the retainer 220 are positioned above the first locking members 213 of the housing 210 and restrict downward movement of the retainer 220.
As is shown in FIG. 12D, when the retainer 220 is in the second temporary locking position P2, the temporary locking projections 221 enter into the second locking openings 212 in the housing 210. At the same time, the first locking projections 223 are positioned beneath the first locking members 213 of the housing 210, as shown in FIG. 12C, and restrict upward movement of the retainer 220. The second locking projections 225 are positioned above the second locking members 214 of the housing 210 and restrict the downward movement of the retainer 220. Accordingly, the force that holds the retainer 220 in the temporary locking position is greater when the retainer is in the first temporary locking position P1 than in the second temporary locking position P2.
As shown in FIG. 12F, when the retainer 220 is in the main locking position, the temporary locking projections 221 are still positioned inside the second locking openings 212. Further, as shown in FIG. 12E, the second locking projections 225 are positioned beneath the second locking members 214 of the housing 210 and restrict the upward movement of the retainer 220.
FIGS. 13A to 13C (Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 2002-260766) show a third conventional electrical connector 301. The electrical connector 301 includes an insulating housing 310. A plurality of contact accommodating cavities 311 for accommodating contacts 320 are formed in the housing 310. As shown in FIG. 3C, an inner peripheral wall member 315 is formed inside the housing 310. The inner peripheral wall member 315 protrudes forward from the contact accommodating cavities 311. Locking members 312 that correspond to the contact accommodating cavities 311 are formed to protrude forward inside the inner peripheral wall member 315. A locking arm 313 that has a locking opening 314 is formed on the inner peripheral wall member 315.
A retainer 330 is inserted from a front surface (left side in FIG. 13A) of the housing 310 and secures the contacts 230 in the housing 310. The retainer 330 is constructed so that it is inserted over the outer periphery of the inner peripheral wall member 315. The retainer 330 can be locked to the housing 310 in a temporary locking position shown in FIG. 13A that allows insertion of the contacts 320 into the contact accommodating cavities 311 and in a main locking position shown in FIG. 13C that secures the contacts 320 in the housing 310. A plurality of receptacle accommodating openings 331 that accommodate receptacles 321 of the contacts 320 are formed in the retainer 330. A lance 332 that initially secures the contacts 320 is disposed in each of the receptacle accommodating openings 331. Lance receiving openings 333 that permit flexing of the lances 332 are disposed above the respective lances 332. A first locking projection 334 and a second locking projection 335 protrude from a bottom portion of the retainer 330.
As shown in FIG. 13B, when the retainer 330 is in the temporary locking position, the first locking projection 334 is positioned to a front of the locking arm 313 and prevents the retainer 330 from being pushed toward a rear of the housing 310. As shown in FIG. 13B, when the retainer 330 is in the temporary locking position, the second locking projection 335 enters into the locking opening 314 of the locking arm 313 and prevents the retainer 330 from being pulled out in the forward direction. Because a back surface 334a of the first locking projection 334 is formed as a reversed tapered surface as shown in FIG. 13B, when a pressing force is applied to a front end surface of the locking arm 313, locking is reinforced. Consequently, the retainer 330 that is in the temporary locking position cannot be easily pushed into the main locking position.
As shown in FIG. 13C, when the retainer 330 is in the main locking position, the first locking projection 334 enters into the locking opening 314 of the locking arm 313 and prevents the retainer 330 from being pulled out in the forward direction. When the retainer 330 is moved to the main locking position, as shown in FIG. 13C, the retainer arms 312 of the housing 310 advance into the lance receiving openings 333 of the retainer 330 and prevent the upward movement of the lances 332 to ensure that the contacts 320 are prevented from slipping out of the housing 310.
The following problems have been encountered in the above-described conventional electrical connectors. In the first electrical connector 101, since the locking arm 113 possesses flexibility, the retainer 120 that is in the temporary locking position can easily be moved to the main locking position. Accordingly, there are cases in which the retainer 120 that is in the temporary locking position is unintentionally moved to the main locking position as a result of, for example, foreign matter or the like contacting the locking arm 113.
In the second electrical connector 201, in order to hold the retainer 220 in the second temporary locking position P2, the first retainer arms 222 that are disposed on the lower rear portions of the two side walls of the retainer 220 restrict upward movement of the retainer 220. The second locking arms 224 disposed on the lower front portions of the two side walls of the retainer 220 restrict downward movement of the retainer 230. Therefore, two kinds of locking arms are needed, which requires a large amount of space. Moreover, since there are two temporary locking positions, there is a danger that the second locking position P2 will erroneously be recognized as the main locking position.
In the third electrical connector 310, although the retainer 330 can not be easily pushed from the temporary locking position into the main locking position, it is difficult to set the angle of inclination of the back surface 334a of the first locking projection 334 so that the locking arm 313 is not damaged when moving the retainer 330 from the temporary locking position to the main locking position.